10 A Finger in Every Pot.

For the remainder of June, Simon spent most of his time away from the club working with Charles and Silver on a series of investments and acquisitions that could only be described as extravagant at the least.

Charles and Silver couldn't believe the amount of capital Simon was injecting into the company which was at this point upwards of 20 million pounds without including the money he spent on the club itself. However, their accomplishments in this month was magnificent because of the spending.

EPD Holdings which at the beginning of the summer only had Charles as the only employee was now home to more than thirty workers ranging from analysts, to accountants, to lawyers. The small two-story office was expanded to a sprawling mansion like building that was wider than it was taller.

Speaking of the expansion of the company office, EPD Holdings started a series of acquisitions of companies in and around the city of Brandermill. These companies included but were not limited to a construction company, a catering company, a textile company and a transportation company and even a nearly bankrupt steelworks factory. Although Charles was unable to take a controlling stake in all these companies, he still managed to get at least 30% In some of them and at most 70% in others.

Moving away from the external acquisitions which only cost Simon 5 million, the remaining 10 million were spent on major companies' stocks such as Facebook which just had its IPO and Nike which Simon remembered was due for a split. However, since it was hard to acquire a large number of these companies' stocks as a precaution against hostile takeovers, the company could only buy them a little bit at a time.

In terms of the operations of the Brandermill FC, Simon granted a substantial transfer budget of 2 million pounds to Pelletier, the new coach, so that he can rebuild after numerous players voided their contract when they though the club was relegated.

As far as escaping relegation was concerned, Simon finally landed a kit sponsorship deal with none other than Emerson Bank which was now under new management for the significant sum of 4 million with a televised match incentive of 100,000 per match.

Simon was aware that this new bank was trying to improve their image with the city population so that they can more easily transition which was also the exact same thing they tried to do in his last life only to be outbid by himself at the cost of 5 million and his family mansion.

Furthermore, Simon signed a slew of new contracts with the companies that were recently acquisitioned by EPD Holdings to perform jobs for the club such as catering services transportation, and even construction and maintenance around the stadium.

These companies that EPD held stakes in were all small companies that Simon knew would expand exponentially in the next few years due to a wave of modernization that will begin in the city.

By the beginning of July, Simon has managed to burn through approximately 20 million pounds while establishing a complex network of companies that functioned together. For example, the construction company received all the metals it needed from the steelworks factory which used the associated transportation company to deliver the steel.

This complex web of inter-organizational cooperation made it seem as if EPD Holdings had a finger in everything that went on in the city of Brandermill. This did not escape the eyes of the media and other business which immediately started paying extra attention to this new player.

It wasn't long before the media discovered the links between Simon and EPD Holdings which was not easy since Charles was the CEO of the company, but it also wasn't hard since it is a matter of public record.

This was why Simon was currently sitting in his office at the Foster Stadium with a female sitting across from him. This female was the same reporter that asked Simon about his age when he first took over the club.

She was wearing a blue pantsuit with a red shirt and had her hair in a tight bun. To be fair, she was a stereotypical reporter with classes and a notepad except for her exceptionally blue eyes that seemed to sparkle under the light from the office window. Simon who was sitting across of her smiling couldn't help but notice this detail, but he had no time to dwell on it as she continued speaking:

"Wouldn't you agree, Mr. Emerson, that EPD Holdings is practicing business on bad faith since it looks like you are simply providing contracts to company that they hold a stake in, therefore stifling competition."

Simon immediately shook his head as he replied:

"First, I would like to point out for the record that I am only a partner at EPD Holdings, which is run by Mr. Preacher. On that note, there is no such thing as good faith in business. It only makes sense from a business standpoint that I would pick the option that is most advantageous to me."

The lady looked deeply at Simon with her deep blue eyes as he responded with a light smile before jotting down his words and then proceeding to ask another question:

"What about the city's anti-monopoly laws, do you think that will be an issue for EPD Holdings."

"I wouldn't know really. Am sure Mr. Preacher could answer that question better."

"Estimates show that you have spent at least 25 million pounds, can you verify this figure? There is also a lot of speculation going around regarding your total net worth, would you care to comment on this."

Simon who was smiling the entire time had his smile fade a bit before simply staring at the lady reporter for a few seconds before responding:

"For the exact amount spent, it is a matter of public record, so I am sure you can find it with no difficulties Ms. Howard. As for my net worth, no comment."

"I see. Then let's switch over to the Club. How do you expect the club to perform this coming season under the untried James Pelletier?"

"I have full confidence in coach Pelletier and he has my unending support. I believe he will deliver a wonderful season to the club and I hope that our supporters to come out in force and lay their weight behind the team."

Ms. Howard simply looked at Simon without writing anything as if to see if his response was genuine causing Simon to smile as amicably as possible. She then immediately proceeded to write something briefly on her notepad before standing up and speaking:

"That should be it Mr. Emerson. Thank you for your time."

Simon also immediately stood up as he replied:

"You're welcome anytime Ms. Howard. Have a nice day and I hope to see you around."

Ms. Howard who was stoic the entire time flashed a professional smile to Simon before walking to the exit. Simon stared at her walking away with a smile still on his face and only sat down the moment she left.

He was extremely exhausted over the last few weeks as he, Charles and Silver where establishing the networks between business and ensuring that everything was legal and that their funding was in order.

Having spent about 29 million pounds in this month in both EPD Holdings and the Club, Simon was left with almost exactly 100 million pounds from his lottery winnings. Simon immediately placed all of it into a trust managed by the new Emerson Bank with a 15% annual return.

This trust would serve as a source of constant income for Simon over the coming years which will enable him to subsidize his other business ventures while also providing him with the means to acquire a substantial credit line from Emerson Bank which he was starting to establish a very cooperative relationship with.

While Simon was ruminating about his finances, a slight knows came from the door of his office. He immediately awoke from his reverie and told the person to enter. The person who came in was a man in his late thirties or early forties. in a seemingly cheap suit, but a very cheery disposition as seen by the laugh lines around his mouth and eyes.

Seeing that this was the club's director of football, Tom Tenner, Simon laughed as he spoke:

"You seem to be in a good mood today Tom. What brought you over today."

Tom immediately laughed as well before simply seating himself and speaking while sliding a binder of papers across the table to Simon:

"Of course, am happy. James just finished the acquisition of a young striker from the championship on loan, with this we have a full squad and are ready for the preseason."

Simon immediately stopped the sliding binder before opening it with a thought about the rudeness of the action since he already got used to this director of football's personality. Seeing the list of 27 names on the first page, followed by numerous individual pages about each player, Simon simply looked through them before setting the binder down and speaking:

"What was the damage?"

"Haha. I bet you won't be able to guess."

"1.5 mil?"

Tom's laugh startled Simon who replied with a dubious tone. However, his response elicited further laughter from Tom who only replied after a few seconds with a cheerful tone:

"75 thousand. Haha. I told you were worried over nothing. No other League 2 chairman would allocate so much money and even if they did, no one would spend it since you the players worth that much wouldn't bother coming to play at this level."

Simon's eyes widened in astonishment. He expected Pelletier to not spend the entire transfer budget, but 75 thousand was much less than he imagined. He immediately turned to Tom and spoke with some worry in his voice:

"Is James confident in this squad. I want a great performance and if he can't deliver it after refusing to use the budget I gave him, it would be worrisome."

Tom simply waved his hand dismissively as he spoke:

"I told him the same thing, but he said that he was confident his squad would perform well. In fact, half of his squad consists of young players he coached at one point or another with the oldest member of the squad being 25."

"I see. I hope things work out as well as he expects. Is there anything else going on?"

Tom immediately pulled out a clipboard and spoke while looking down on it:

"Nothing urgent, we are just waiting on the new kits to be delivered. James as scheduled three home friendlies and two away in the coming month, so we'll need to coordinate with that new transportation company to get everything ready. We also need to get all the merchandise ready for the season, these are things I can take care of."

Simon nodded as he wrote down everything Tom was saying. After he was done writing he looked up and spoke:

"Tell James I'll keep the remainder of the transfer budget ready for him if he needs it before the window closes or in the January window. I'll make sure those kits and merchandise get to you in time since I am still in the middle of finalizing the deal with the textile company."

The textile company Simon is talking about is one of the companies that EPD held substantial shares in. Simon selected this company to provide them with the new team kits as well as the merchandise that they will be selling, however, it was taking slightly more work since they have never done this before.

Tom simply nodded his head simply replied in the affirmative and took his leave soon after while still smiling. Simon leaned back on his comfortable chair as he felt that things were finally starting to fall in place.

His main focus over the next few months would be on the club as he wanted to see if his gamble on Pelletier would pan out.